WO2009152558A1

WO2009152558A1 - Reading aid

Info

Publication number: WO2009152558A1
Application number: PCT/AU2009/000736
Authority: WO
Inventors: Garry Grainger; Janice Graiger
Original assignee: Garry Grainger; Janice Graiger
Priority date: 2008-06-20
Filing date: 2009-06-11
Publication date: 2009-12-23

Abstract

A reading aid comprising text in which the syllables of each word are visually distinguished according to their phonic type wherein all letters and syllables appearing in the text which having a natural sound are not highlighted and those letters and syllables in the text that have an unnatural sound are highlighted in that they are coded according to the sound type wherein the coding comprises a colouring applied to the letters or syllables wherein the name of the colour when pronounced has a similar assonance to the syllable associated with the colour wherein all letters and syllables having the same sound are given the same colour. A method of enabling a reader to learn to read is also claimed.

Description

"Reading Aid"

Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a reading aid and in particular relates to such an aid which can be utilised in facilitating the teaching of reading.

Background

Currently there are many programmes in existence to facilitate the teaching of reading. In regard to such programmes there have been two general schools of thought in teaching of reading which comprise the Phonics approach and the Whole Language approach. Generally it is accepted that the Phonics approach is the most successful in facilitating early reading. In regard to the Phonics approach there are two forms of approach that comprise the use of Analytic phonics or the use of Synthetic phonics. In regard to the Analytic phonics the letter sounds are taught after reading has already begun and children are required to initially learn to read some words by sight, often in the context of meaningful text. In the case of Synthetic phonics this approach does not begin by establishing an initial sight vocabulary. Instead the approach requires that before the children are introduced to books they are taught letter sounds and after the first few of such sounds have been taught the children are shown how these sounds can be blended together to build up (or synthesize) words. In the case of the English language the Synthetics approach relies upon the use of 44 graphemes which relate to the particular sounds which exist within the English language. The symbols that are used are "strange" in that they do not conform with any known symbols utilised in the English alphabet. Therefore before a child can commence reading it is necessary that they know the graphemes before they attempt to apply those graphemes to the words and in reading a text. Therefore in learning to read a child must not only read the word but must also read the graphemes provided alongside each syllable in order to assess the sound that is to be made to create the word.

Another system is disclosed in US 6126447 which assigns to each letter a colour according to the sound of each vowel sound and consonant. However this system does not take into consideration the natural sound of the vowel and again requires the child to learn another abstraction as a part of the reading process.

The result of the system proposed in US 612447 as a result presents a reading system which is unduly complex and difficult to comprehend in that it creates a whole new range of abstractions for each vowel according to each sound for that letter and each diphthong and triphthong. This arrangement is very cumbersome and complex and as a result would be difficult to implement

The above discussion of the background art is intended to facilitate an understanding of the present invention only. The discussion is not an acknowledgement or admission that any of the material referred to is or was part of the common general knowledge in Australia or the world as at the priority date of the application.

Disclosure of the Invention

Throughout the specification and claims, unless the context requires otherwise, the word "comprise" or variations such as "comprises" or "comprising", will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated integer or group of integers but not the exclusion of any other integer or group of integers.

It is an object of this invention to provide a reading aid whereby learning to read can be accelerated without the need to learn abstract symbols or a large range of visual cues as well as the letters of the alphabet. Throughout the specification and claim unless otherwise stated herein the term vowel sound shall be taken as a sound relating to the sound of a single vowel or a diphthong or a triphthong when pronounced.

Throughout the specification and claims unless otherwise stated herein the term "natural sound" shall comprise and be taken to mean the "primary sound" of a letter while the term "unnatural sound" shall be taken to comprise the sound which is representative of a letter or group of letters or syllable which differs from the primary sound. In this regard the term "natural" sound is when the letter or syllable is read according to its phonetics (e.g. the sound of the letter "e" in "red" and "bed" or the letter "a" in "cat" or "that") while an unnatural sound is when the letter or syllable is given a sound which differs from the phonetic sound (e.g. the letter "e" in "the" and "dance" or the letter "a" in "ate" or "palm")

According to one aspect the invention resides in a reading aid comprising text in which the syllables of each word are visually distinguished according to their phonic type wherein all letters and syllables appearing in the text which having a natural sound are not highlighted and those letters and syllables in the text that have an unnatural sound are highlighted in that they are coded according to the sound type wherein the coding comprises a colouring applied to the letters or syllables wherein the name of the colour when pronounced has a similar assonance to the syllable associated with the colour wherein all letters and syllables having the same sound are given the same colour.

According to a preferred feature of the invention the coding further comprises a set of picture-like symbols representative of a word which when pronounced has a similar assonance to the syllable associated with the picture like symbol wherein all letters and syllables having the same sound are associated with the same picture like symbol. According to a preferred feature of the invention the letters or syllables which are coloured are not associated with said picture-like symbols. - A -

According to a preferred feature of the invention the coding further comprises a super or subscript which is associated with a letter or syllable wherein said superscript or subscript comprises one or more letters which when pronounced phonetically have an assonance which is similar to the unnatural assonance of the letters or symbols which are associated with the superscript or subscript. According to a preferred feature of the invention the letters or syllables which are coloured are not associated with said superscript or subscript. According to a preferred feature of the invention the letters or syllables which are associated with a picture-like symbol are not associated with said superscript or subscript.

According to a preferred feature of the invention those letters and syllables in the text that have an unnatural sound are underlined.

According to another aspect the invention resides in a method of enabling a reader to learn to read comprising representing printed text such that the syllables of each word are visually distinguished according to their phonic type wherein all letters and syllables having a natural sound are not highlighted and those letters and syllables that have an unnatural sound are highlighted according to the sound type, wherein the coding comprises a colouring applied to the letters or syllables wherein the name of the colour when pronounced has a similar assonance to the syllable associated with the colour wherein all letters and syllables having the same sound are given the same colour, said method comprising teaching the phonetic sounds of the letters of the alphabet, teaching the colour coding for the letters and syllables having an unnatural sound, introducing the reader to words having the colour coding and causing the reader to practise the pronunciation of the words, and introducing the reader to text which has been colour coded.

According to a preferred feature of the invention the coding further comprises a set of picture-like symbols representative of a word which when pronounced has a similar assonance to the syllable associated with the picture like symbol wherein all letters and syllables having the same sound are associated with the same picture-like symbol, said method further comprising enabling the reader to learn the picture-like coding.

According to a preferred feature of the invention the coding further comprises a super or subscript which is associated with a letter or syllable wherein said superscript or subscript comprises one or more letters which when pronounced phonetically have an assonance which is similar to the unnatural assonance of the letters or symbols which are associated with the superscript or subscript, said method further comprising enabling the reader to learn the superscript or subscript coding.

The invention will be more fully understood in the light of the following description of one specific embodiment.

Brief Description of the Drawings

The description is made with reference to the accompanying drawings of which:

Figure 1 is a phonic coding chart according to the invention;

Figure 2 is a first example of text which has been coded according to the phonic coding chart of Figure 1 ; and

Figure 3 is a second example of text which has been colour coded according to the phonic coding chart of Figure 1.

The original drawings which have been filed with the application are in colour where the colouring of the text contained in the drawings is in conformity with the features of the embodiment as described. Detailed Description of Specific Embodiment

The reading aid which is the subject of the embodiment of the invention as represented in the accompanying drawings utilises the coding of syllables of text whereby those letters and syllables which when pronounced have their natural sound are represented in a non-highlighted text and those letters and syllables as represented by a letter or groups of letters which when pronounced have an unnatural sound are highlighted. In regard to those syllables that have an unnatural sound the highlighting comprises the use of a coding which comprises a colour the name of which has an assonance corresponding to the unnatural sound. For example the colour green is used on the letters "ee" in the word "tree", the letters "ea" in "tea", the letters "ei" in the word "ceiling", the letters "ie" in the word "thief and the letter "y" in the word "belly. In this regard reference is made to the phonic coding chart as shown at Figure 1 which provides a listing of the colours that can be used and examples of the application of the colours to several words.

An example of the application of the embodiment are those syllables in the accompanying text and as shown at Figure 1 that in use are not sounded (i.e are silent) as in the case of the letter "h" in the word "when" or "where" or the letter "b" in the words "lamb" and plumber". Such letters are coloured light grey in which the letters are not sounded.

In regards to letters or syllables in words such as "jail", "tape", "baby", "great", "tray", "they", "vein" and "eight" which have a phonetic sound corresponding to letters "ey" in the colour "grey", the relevant letter or syllables are coloured a mid grey as shown at Figure 1.

Those letters or syllables in words such as "tree", "leaf, "ceiling", "thief, "he", "belly", "key" and "ski" that have a phonetic sound representative of the letters "ee" as in the colour "green" are coloured green. Those letters or syllables in words such as "light", "pie", "line", "fly", "height" and "eye" that have a sound representative of the letter "i" as contained in the colour "white" are coloured white on a mid-grey background.

Those letters or syllables in words such as "dough", "so", "boat" "note" "sew" and "toes" that have a sound representative of the letters "ow" as contained in the colour "yellow" such as are coloured yellow on a mid-grey background.

Those letters or syllables in words such as "chew", "rule", "through", "fruit", "boot", "rouge", "shoe" and "to" that have a sound representative of the letters "ue" as in the colour "blue" are coloured blue.

Those letters or syllables in words such as "head", "care", "bury", "mare", "says" and "fairy" that have a sound representative of the letter "e" as in the colour "red" such as are coloured red. Whereas words that have the letter "e" such as "bred" and "met" which is pronounced as in the word "red" are uncoloured

Those letters or syllables in words in words such as "gym" (the letter "y"), "orange" (the letter "a", "women" ( the letter "o") and "busy" (the letter "u") that have a sound representative of the letter "i" as in the colour "pink" are coloured pink. Whereas words that have the letter "i" such as "ink" and "think" which is pronounced as in the word "pink" are uncoloured.

Those letters or syllables in words such as "wand" that have a sound representative of the letter "o" as in the colour "orange" are coloured orange.

Those letters or syllables in words such as "parka", "mask", 'heart" and "aunt" that have a sound representative of the letter "a" as in the colour "khaki" are coloured khaki. Those letters or syllables in words such as "fern', "learn" "bird", "worm" and "metre" that have a sound representative of the letter "ur" as in the colour "purple" are coloured purple.

Those letters or syllables in words such as "forty, "four", "fought", "war", "poor" and "pore" that have a sound representative of the letter "aw" as in the colour in "fawn" are coloured fawn.

Those letters or syllables in words such as "cow", "mouse" and "bough" that have a sound representative of the letters "ow" in colour "brown" are coloured brown.

In addition to the coding of the text by colours the coding includes a first set symbols which are applied to letters or syllables where the sounds of the syllables or letters cannot be matched to the sound of the name of a colour. The symbols that are applied comprise a visual representation of items that are known to the reader such as the picture of a boy or of a pair of eyes. For example in the case of letters or syllables in words such as "pull", "should", "wolf and "chook" that have a sound representative of the letters "oo" in the verb "look" are accompanied by indicia representative of a pair of eyes. In addition in the case of letters or syllables in words such as "coil" and "joy" that have a sound representative of the letter "oy" in the noun "boy" are accompanied by an indicia representative of a boy

In addition to the coding of the text using colours and the first set of symbols the coding includes a second set of symbols which comprise letters which are applied as a superscript to those letters and syllables which appear in the text and which are not pronounced according to their usual phonetic sounds. The superscript is applied above the respective letters in a lower case. The letter that is used as the superscript is one which has a phonetic sound which is to be applied to the respective letter or syllable. Examples of such instances are set out below. SUPERSCRIPT EXAMPLE

f f βhStSgraβh

garage

S city sh sh pressure shn shn position shs shs precious

t looked

U U a about

V

Of

wun wu n one

y new zy zy pleasure

In the original; specification which has been filed with the above application the portion of the text appearing immediately above is coloured in accordance with the features of the embodiment wherein:

• The letters "o" in "photograph" are coloured yellow on a mid-grey background;; • In the second occurrence of the letter "a" in "garage" it is coloured khaki;

• The letter "e" in "garage" is light grey indicating that it is silent;

• The letter "y" in "city" is coloured green;

• The letters "ure" in "pressure" are coloured purple;

• The letters "ou" in "about" are coloured brown;

• The letters "ew" in "new" are coloured blue; and

• The letter "a" in "pleasure" is coloured light grey indicating that it is silent; and

• The letters "ure" in "pleasure" are coloured purple.

In addition when some letters have a peculiar sounding which is not catered for by the previously discussed codings the letter or syllable is typed in bold type. An example of such an instance is the letter "s" where it has a long sound as it is pronounced in the words "as", "has" or "dogs". In such instances the letter "s" is typed in bold to read as", "has" or "dogs". Another example is the syllable "th" where it has a hard sound as it is pronounced in the words "the", "this" or "weather". In such an instance the letters "th" are typed in bold to read as, "the this weather. This contrasts with the coding used when the letters "th" are given a soft sound as in think, with and both, in which case the letters are underlined to indicate to the reader that the letter requires consideration by the reader.

In addition to the above codings the letters appearing in the text are underlined in instances where the pronunciation of the letters is not to be phonetic. This underlining serves to further draw the attention of the reader to the underlined letter or letters and to indicate that the particular letter or letters have a special pronunciation. In most cases the correct pronunciation is indicated by the coding which has been applied to the underlined letter or letters. In addition in cases where the letter or letters have a pronunciation which differs from the obvious phonetic pronunciation and that pronunciation is not catered for by the above codings the underlining provides a prompt to the reader that the letter or letters require consideration.

When coding according to the embodiment is applied to a body of text the sounds which are represented by the coding have a logical connection to the desired sound. For example in the case of the word "officeworks" those letters or syllables which have an unnatural sound as in the case of the letter "e" and the letters "or", they are coded according to the phonic characteristics as set out in the chart at Figure 1. Examples of text which have been coded in the manner described above are shown in Figures 2 and 3. As the reader reads each of the words contained in the text, those letters which have their expected sound according to the standard phonics are not highlighted while the letters or syllables which when pronounced do not have their natural meaning are coded as described above.

The student is then introduced to the unnatural sounds as set out at Figure 1. The method according to the embodiment requires that the child establish an understanding of the coding which is to be used in order to develop an understanding of the unnatural sounds. In this regard the coding is structured such that it is easily learnt since the sounds which are to be learnt are coded with a colour or symbol which when spoken has the particular sound which is the predominant sound where the sound has an assonance to the pronounced sound of the letter or syllable. Once the coding has been established the child is then introduced to text with the coding applied to it (such as that of Figures 2 and 3). As a result the child is provided with a visual guide in regard to the pronunciation of the words contained in the text in that the required sounds are obvious from the colour of the letters and/or the syllable or the indicia or superscript associated with the letters and/or syllables of the words in a body of text.

The application of the knowledge gained in regard to natural and unnatural sounds is then reinforced by asking the student to read specially written and printed stories that relate to students' experiences and interests, ambitions, dreams etc. Some of the textual material may comprise stories involving known or familiar text such as advertising copy which is commonly utilised for selling products (e.g. a well known advertisement used in advertising the services of stores trading under the trade mark ATHLETES FOOT as shown at Figure 2) or the words of a well known song (e.g. Advance Australia Fair as shown at Figure 3) or the like. Subsequently students can be introduced to other textual material in which the printing has been coded which relates to subject matter which is of interest to the students such as BMX bikes, CATERPILLAR bulldozers, Engines etc.

Once the teacher is confident with the student's ability to read the student can be progressively weaned off the coded text

The reading aid according to the invention has-been applied in the field and the results have been very remarkable in that it has enabled students who have in the past had extreme difficulty in learning to read, being able to read within a very short period of time. In addition the reading aid has been found to be of great benefit to children having an inherent reading ability, however it has been found that children of all ranges of ability benefit from the reading aid.

The invention can be distinguished from the system that is disclosed in US 6126447. One principle difference is the simplicity of the embodiment in that it enables there to be a significant reduction in the number of cues that are required to be learnt. The system according to the embodiment relies upon the student having a knowledge of the phonetics of all of the letters of the alphabet. This knowledge is established by using the "Body Bits" alphabet cue cards and chart developed by the inventors. As a result the embodiment does not need to provide any coding for those letters which are read using their natural sound and provides a coding only in cases where the letter or syllable is given an unnatural sound when it is spoken. In addition the same coding is applied to all letters and syllables which have the same unnatural sound. In the case of letters or syllables having a sound which cannot be represented by a colour they are associated with a picture symbol (such as the symbol of a boy for the sound "oy") having a sound which resembles the unnatural sound or a letter of the alphabet which has natural sound which corresponds to the unnatural sound of the particular letter or syllable (e.g. the letter "s" is applied as a superscript over the letter "c" in the word "city"). This contrasts with the system of US 6126447 which has a colour for all of the sounds of all vowels and for a range of syllables. When a sound cannot be replicated by a colour the system requires the modification of the text by slanting the relevant letter or syllable but no guidance is given as to how the particular letter or syllable is to be pronounced which requires the student to guess or remember all of the variations without the assistance of a visual cue. In the case of letters which are silent the system reduces the thickness of the letter which introduces a subtlety which will not be readily recognised by the student

The present invention is not to be limited in scope by the specific embodiment described herein. The embodiment is intended for the purpose of exemplification only. Functionally equivalent products, formulations and methods are clearly within the scope of the invention as described herein.

Claims

ClaimsThe Claims Defining the Invention are as Follows:

1. A reading aid comprising text in which the syllables of each word are visually distinguished according to their phonic type wherein all letters and syllables appearing in the text which having a natural sound are not highlighted and those letters and syllables in the text that have an unnatural sound are highlighted in that they are coded according to the sound type wherein the coding comprises a colouring applied to the letters or syllables wherein the name of the colour when pronounced has a similar assonance to the syllable associated with the colour wherein all letters and syllables having the same sound are given the same colour.

2. A reading aid as claimed at claim 1 wherein the coding further comprises a set of picture-like symbols representative of a word which when pronounced has a similar assonance to the syllable associated with the picture like symbol wherein all letters and syllables having the same sound are associated with the same picture like symbol.

3. A reading aid as claimed at claim 2 wherein the letters or syllables which are coloured are not associated with said picture-like symbols.

4. A reading aid as claimed at claim 1 or 2 or 3 wherein the coding further comprises a super or subscript which is associated with a letter or syllable wherein said superscript or subscript comprises one or more letters which when pronounced phonetically have an assonance which is similar to the unnatural assonance of the letters or symbols which are associated with the superscript or subscript.

5. A reading aid as claimed at claim 4 wherein the letters or syllables which are coloured are not associated with said superscript or subscript.

6. A reading aid as claimed at claim 4 or 5 as dependant from claims 2 or 3 wherein the letters or syllables which are associated with a picture-like symbol are not associated with said superscript or subscript.

7. A reading aid as claimed at any one of the preceding claims wherein those letters and syllables in the text that have an unnatural sound are underlined.

8. A reading aid substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings

9. A method of enabling a reader to learn to read comprising representing printed text such that the syllables of each word are visually distinguished according to their phonic type wherein all letters and syllables having a natural sound are not highlighted and those letters and syllables that have an unnatural sound are highlighted according to the sound type, wherein the coding comprises a colouring applied to the letters or syllables wherein the name of the colour when pronounced has a similar assonance to the syllable associated with the colour wherein all letters and syllables having the same sound are given the same colour, said method comprising teaching the phonetic sounds of the letters of the alphabet, teaching the colour coding for the letters and syllables having an unnatural sound, introducing the reader to words having the colour coding and causing the reader to practise the pronunciation of the words, and introducing the reader to text which has been colour coded.

10. A method as claimed at claim 9 wherein the coding further comprises a set of picture-like symbols representative of a word which when pronounced has a similar assonance to the syllable associated with the picture like symbol wherein all letters and syllables having the same sound are associated with the same picture-like symbol, said method further comprising enabling the reader to learn the picture-like coding.

11. A method as claimed at claim 9 wherein the coding further comprises a super or subscript which is associated with a letter or syllable wherein said superscript or subscript comprises one or more letters which when pronounced phonetically have an assonance which is similar to the unnatural assonance of the letters or symbols which are associated with the superscript or subscript, said method further comprising enabling the reader to learn the superscript or subscript coding.

12. A method of enabling a reader to learn to read substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying specification.